Snowmobiles usually include a pair of footrests disposed at opposite sides of the snowmobile to provide a comfortable ride when a driver sits on a straddle seat thereof. Each of the footrests generally includes a standing surface for firm contact with the driver's feet in order to ensure the driver's stable riding position, even while the snowmobile travels over uneven terrain at a high speed.
Examples of snowmobile footrests are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,695, issued to Yasui on Oct. 25, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,080, issued to Pertile on May 21, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,594, issued to Wubbolts et al. on Aug. 12, 2003.
When a snowmobile travels at a high speed on snow, snow is constantly being thrown upwardly and rearwardly relative to the travel direction of the snowmobile and onto the footrests where the driver's feet are positioned. Under certain conditions, such as powder snow in the mountains, the footrests can become packed with snow, which prevents the driver's feet from contacting the standing surfaces of the footrests, and makes the footrests very slippery. Therefore, the snowmobile driver is inclined to consistently kick at the snow covering the standing surfaces of the footrests, attempting to loosen the snow and push it off the standing surfaces of the footrests. Furthermore, after the footrests become covered with snow, the driver is compelled to search for the footholds in order to stabilize himself or herself to the snowmobile, and thereby pushes the snow into the forward portion of the footrests, and therefore the snow accumulated on the standing surfaces of the footrests tends to become packed against the front stop of each footrest where it becomes hard to remove during the riding of the snowmobile. Thus, a driver is forced to stop and use his or her hands or other tools to clean away the snow from the footrests.
In order to provide secure footholds on the footrests, tooth-shaped foot grips are conventionally formed as a part of the footrests. The foot grips sometimes have small holes passing through the footrest. However, these holes do not let enough snow pass through and thus become blocked by the snow very quickly. Therefore, the foot grips are also packed by the snow. Larger holes are not a viable solution because they would allow snow to travel up therethrough to be deposited on the standing surfaces of the footrests, thereby worsening the problem.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved snowmobile footrest configuration in order to prevent snow from accumulating thereon.